WEBVTT - Season 04 Episode 7: Called to the Forest (Rerun) 0:00:00.120 --> 0:00:04.520 Hello, I'm Richard McClain smith, and you're listening to Unexplained. Sadly, 0:00:04.640 --> 0:00:07.440 due to my being completely flawed by the flu this week, 0:00:07.560 --> 0:00:11.280 there's no new episode, so huge apologies for that. The 0:00:11.320 --> 0:00:15.120 show will resume as per usual next week. In place 0:00:15.160 --> 0:00:17.720 of the scheduled episode, I'm going to replay one of 0:00:17.720 --> 0:00:20.880 my favorites from season four, which I think is one 0:00:20.960 --> 0:00:23.840 of the stories that has touched me the most. In 0:00:23.880 --> 0:00:27.320 February nineteen seventy eight, five young men from the Ubasutter 0:00:27.440 --> 0:00:30.560 area in northern California, took a short trip to watch 0:00:30.600 --> 0:00:34.480 their favorite basketball team. But the men never returned home. 0:00:35.000 --> 0:00:38.000 It's a tragic and beguiling mystery that to this day 0:00:38.600 --> 0:00:43.680 remains unexplained. This is season four, episode seven, called to 0:00:43.760 --> 0:00:58.480 the Forest. Look closely into the daily goings on of 0:00:58.560 --> 0:01:02.200 any town or city, and soon enough you'll come across 0:01:02.200 --> 0:01:07.920 something a little unsavory or unsettling. A strange paradox when 0:01:07.959 --> 0:01:10.920 you consider that such places are often held up as 0:01:10.959 --> 0:01:15.720 examples of our superior sense of civility. We need not 0:01:15.800 --> 0:01:19.920 be so hard on ourselves, however, considering the number of 0:01:20.000 --> 0:01:25.080 different people and ideas all crammed in together in these places, 0:01:25.160 --> 0:01:30.160 It's a wonder they function at all. That said, when 0:01:30.240 --> 0:01:33.560 things happen there that aren't to our liking, we have 0:01:33.640 --> 0:01:37.959 only ourselves to blame, and it is only through ourselves 0:01:38.000 --> 0:01:43.960 alone that we can rectify such unwonted situations. The same 0:01:44.000 --> 0:01:47.160 cannot be said for the town of Castle Rock, the 0:01:47.240 --> 0:01:51.080 principal location and title of the recent Hulu TV series 0:01:51.600 --> 0:01:55.800 based on the works of Stephen King. Without wanting to 0:01:55.800 --> 0:02:00.120 give anything away, the show essentially details the life of 0:02:00.160 --> 0:02:04.520 a seemingly quaint and quiet town in which darkness, in 0:02:04.560 --> 0:02:10.440 one form or another appears especially drawn to it. I 0:02:10.520 --> 0:02:13.760 was reminded of this show when researching this week's story. 0:02:15.120 --> 0:02:18.000 Though I would never suggest an entire town, or in 0:02:18.040 --> 0:02:24.400 this case, a whole region, was preternaturally susceptible to unfortunate things. 0:02:24.440 --> 0:02:27.440 If I were to believe that such things were possible, however, 0:02:28.120 --> 0:02:33.320 this place would certainly provide a compelling case study. The 0:02:33.480 --> 0:02:37.480 Uber Sutter area, of which Yuba City is the principal city, 0:02:38.160 --> 0:02:41.799 begins ten miles to the north of Sacramento and stretches 0:02:41.880 --> 0:02:46.320 northwestwards toward the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range. 0:02:47.960 --> 0:02:51.079 In the early eighteenth century, Much of the land, which 0:02:51.080 --> 0:02:54.880 would eventually encompass most of Yuba County, including the Yuba 0:02:54.919 --> 0:02:59.560 City area, was sold to a highly controversial individual named 0:02:59.639 --> 0:03:04.240 John Sutter around one hundred and fifty years later, the 0:03:04.280 --> 0:03:07.800 county's name would become synonymous with one of the United 0:03:07.840 --> 0:03:13.840 states most enduring and tragic mysteries. You're listening to Unexplained 0:03:14.480 --> 0:03:26.760 and I'm Richard McLean Smith. In the early nineteenth century, 0:03:27.400 --> 0:03:30.560 Johann Sutter had been wanted for fraud in his home 0:03:30.560 --> 0:03:33.799 country of Switzerland before deciding to change his name to 0:03:33.919 --> 0:03:38.720 John and take his chances in the fledgling United States. 0:03:39.560 --> 0:03:43.000 Leaving behind a wife and five children, He arrived in 0:03:43.000 --> 0:03:46.320 New York in eighteen thirty four and spent the next 0:03:46.360 --> 0:03:50.360 five years exhaustively touring the continent to get the measure 0:03:50.400 --> 0:03:54.960 of it. After managing to ingratiate himself with a number 0:03:54.960 --> 0:03:59.160 of prominent Euro American dignitaries, he eventually settled in what 0:03:59.360 --> 0:04:03.560 was then Alta, California in the summer of eighteen thirty nine. 0:04:05.720 --> 0:04:10.160 At the time, Alta California was a relatively undeveloped province 0:04:10.160 --> 0:04:13.800 of Mexico. Having so far managed to resist the clutches 0:04:13.840 --> 0:04:19.640 of the ever expanding United States. Realizing the area's potential, 0:04:20.200 --> 0:04:23.720 Sutter succeeded in convincing the local governor to sell him 0:04:23.760 --> 0:04:27.880 almost fifty thousand acres of land along the Sacramento River. 0:04:29.480 --> 0:04:33.640 The following year, he established a trading colony there, which 0:04:33.680 --> 0:04:39.080 he named New Helvetia. Rarely is such a story of 0:04:39.160 --> 0:04:43.520 land purchase complete without some form of Native American displacement 0:04:44.120 --> 0:04:50.479 or indeed slaughter, and Sutter's was no different. Local tribes 0:04:50.520 --> 0:04:54.200 that were unwilling to recognize these self appointed owners of 0:04:54.240 --> 0:04:57.279 the lands that they lived on were dispensed with swiftly, 0:04:58.120 --> 0:05:04.719 being either forcibly moved or exterminated entirely. Any tribes adopted 0:05:04.720 --> 0:05:08.080 to co operate with the Euro American or Mexican settlers 0:05:08.600 --> 0:05:12.279 would invariably be put to work as little more than slaves. 0:05:14.120 --> 0:05:17.400 The exact number of Native Americans that were killed in 0:05:17.440 --> 0:05:22.360 the establishing of New Helvetia is unknown. It is thought, however, 0:05:22.839 --> 0:05:25.360 that Sutter kept as many as six to eight hundred 0:05:25.400 --> 0:05:29.240 of them as slaves, often locking them up in squalid 0:05:29.279 --> 0:05:33.120 pens and placing their food in troughs, forcing them to 0:05:33.160 --> 0:05:37.839 eat like farm animals. It is also speculated that he 0:05:38.000 --> 0:05:42.440 raped Native American girls as young as twelve years old. 0:05:44.520 --> 0:05:49.360 In eighteen forty eight, gold was discovered on Sutter's land. However, 0:05:50.000 --> 0:05:52.799 any hope he had of profiting from it was swiftly 0:05:52.880 --> 0:05:56.560 dashed when his efforts to keep its secret failed miserably. 0:05:57.960 --> 0:06:02.880 Within months, Sutter's land was overrun with swaves of prospectors 0:06:03.320 --> 0:06:06.880 feverishly clawing at the earth in search of the shiny metal. 0:06:08.360 --> 0:06:11.080 Such was the speed with which the gold rush unfolded, 0:06:11.520 --> 0:06:15.360 there as little that Sutter could do to stop them. 0:06:15.440 --> 0:06:18.080 Having bought more land in a bid to claim ownership 0:06:18.120 --> 0:06:21.720 of any gold found on it, Sutter soon found himself 0:06:21.760 --> 0:06:25.760 in major debt. With no other options, he was forced 0:06:25.760 --> 0:06:28.640 to sell off his land, transferring any deeds he had 0:06:28.720 --> 0:06:32.839 left into the name of his son. His land owning 0:06:32.880 --> 0:06:38.760 ambitions were finished. A comic come upance. Perhaps if you 0:06:38.800 --> 0:06:43.359 believe in such things, perhaps two. If you believe in 0:06:43.440 --> 0:06:47.120 such things, you might say the series of events that 0:06:47.200 --> 0:06:52.440 would befall the region in subsequent years were inevitable given 0:06:52.480 --> 0:07:04.440 what many would consider to be such rotten beginnings. Part 0:07:04.440 --> 0:07:07.000 of the land that Sutter was forced to sell was 0:07:07.080 --> 0:07:11.320 located just forty miles north of New Helvetia and centered 0:07:11.360 --> 0:07:15.680 around the confluence of the Uber and Feather Rivers. The 0:07:15.800 --> 0:07:18.640 land was sold in eighteen forty nine to a small 0:07:18.720 --> 0:07:23.400 consortium of men headed by Samuel Brannan, who quickly established 0:07:23.560 --> 0:07:28.280 Uber City in the middle of it. Almost immediately, the 0:07:28.320 --> 0:07:32.360 fledgling city was overshadowed by Marysville, the town on the 0:07:32.360 --> 0:07:35.920 opposite bank of the Feather River, which newcomers found much 0:07:35.960 --> 0:07:40.760 easier to access, But soon it began to prosper, and 0:07:40.840 --> 0:07:44.160 over the next one hundred years the city grew steadily 0:07:44.200 --> 0:07:47.040 from a population of three hundred to seven and a 0:07:47.080 --> 0:07:54.360 half thousand. Then, in December nineteen fifty five, a series 0:07:54.400 --> 0:08:00.880 of devastating storms battered northern California. After days of relentless rain, 0:08:01.480 --> 0:08:05.320 at just after midnight on December twenty fourth, a levee 0:08:05.360 --> 0:08:08.400 broke on the west bank of the Feather River, sending 0:08:08.440 --> 0:08:12.000 a wall of water twenty one feet high, cascading into 0:08:12.040 --> 0:08:17.360 the county and flooding ninety percent of Yuba City. Seventy 0:08:17.400 --> 0:08:24.040 four people were killed. Five years later, a Bowing fifty 0:08:24.080 --> 0:08:29.239 two bomber plane carrying two three point eight megaton thermonuclear 0:08:29.280 --> 0:08:33.880 bombs flying into the vicinity of Uber County experienced a 0:08:33.920 --> 0:08:39.360 sudden and inexplicable loss of pressure in the fuselage. After 0:08:39.480 --> 0:08:42.040 ordering the rest of the crew to bail out, the 0:08:42.080 --> 0:08:45.280 heroic pilot managed to stay in the cockpit just long 0:08:45.400 --> 0:08:49.080 enough to steer the plane away from Uber City before 0:08:49.080 --> 0:08:54.480 bailing out himself. At only four thousand feet the plaine 0:08:54.480 --> 0:08:57.880 would eventually crash into a barley field just eleven miles 0:08:57.920 --> 0:09:03.160 to the west of the city. Miraculously, no radioactive material 0:09:03.559 --> 0:09:09.480 was released as a result. In late spring nineteen seventy one, 0:09:09.640 --> 0:09:13.160 a Uber County peach farmer noticed a large, freshly dug 0:09:13.200 --> 0:09:17.880 hole on his land that had no apparent purpose. When 0:09:17.880 --> 0:09:20.720 he found it filled in the next day, he became 0:09:20.800 --> 0:09:25.600 suspicious and called the police to investigate it. Digging away 0:09:25.600 --> 0:09:30.240 the fresh dirt, they found a man's body underneath, riddled 0:09:30.480 --> 0:09:35.280 with stab wounds. The man was just one of at 0:09:35.360 --> 0:09:38.960 least twenty five migrant farm workers from around the Yuba 0:09:39.040 --> 0:09:43.640 County area that serial killer and Yuber City resident Juan 0:09:43.720 --> 0:09:49.920 Corona was eventually convicted of murdering. Corona had been previously 0:09:49.960 --> 0:09:54.000 diagnosed with schizophrenia, which some believe was triggered by the 0:09:54.040 --> 0:09:57.320 trauma he suffered. As a witness to the worst effects 0:09:57.360 --> 0:10:02.560 of the nineteen fifty five flood. Another five years later, 0:10:03.160 --> 0:10:06.240 a school bus carrying the Yuba City High School choir 0:10:07.000 --> 0:10:10.239 broke through a guard rail just outside the city of Martinez, 0:10:10.920 --> 0:10:15.679 plunging thirty feet to the ground. Twenty eight teenagers from 0:10:15.720 --> 0:10:20.320 the city and their chaperone were killed instantly in what 0:10:20.559 --> 0:10:23.760 was the worst school bus accident ever recorded in the 0:10:23.880 --> 0:10:30.560 United States at the time. And yet, incredibly, despite this 0:10:30.679 --> 0:10:34.080 litany of tragedy, the one for which the area would 0:10:34.120 --> 0:10:39.640 become most well known had yet to pass. The story, 0:10:39.679 --> 0:10:43.280 most often referred to as the Uber County five, is 0:10:43.320 --> 0:10:56.120 a bizarre and heartbreaking mystery that remains to this day unexplained. Ma'am, 0:10:56.400 --> 0:10:59.280 have you seen my Gaiters T shirt? Cried Gary from 0:10:59.320 --> 0:11:02.560 the laundry room. I need it for the game tomorrow. 0:11:04.040 --> 0:11:07.560 Gary's mum Ida appeared a moment later, holding the beige 0:11:07.600 --> 0:11:11.840 T shirt, complete with its gateway Gaiter's logo emblazoned across it. 0:11:12.520 --> 0:11:16.640 All washed and ready to go, thanks, said Gary, taking 0:11:16.679 --> 0:11:18.920 it before running to place it with the rest of 0:11:18.960 --> 0:11:21.520 his kit that he'd laid out in preparation for the 0:11:21.559 --> 0:11:25.600 next day. Just then, the sound of a car horn 0:11:25.640 --> 0:11:29.880 could be heard coming from the turquoise Mercury Montego that 0:11:30.000 --> 0:11:32.520 had just pulled up outside the front of the house. 0:11:33.920 --> 0:11:37.439 They're here, said Gary excitedly as he grabbed his jacket 0:11:37.640 --> 0:11:41.760 and headed toward the door. Remember I've got a big 0:11:41.800 --> 0:11:45.880 game tomorrow. Don't let me sleep in, he said. Yes, 0:11:45.960 --> 0:11:49.320 I know, said Ida, before kissing her son good bye 0:11:50.080 --> 0:11:54.800 and seeing him out the door. It was February twenty fourth, 0:11:55.040 --> 0:11:58.920 nineteen seventy eight, in the small district of Olivehurst, just 0:11:58.960 --> 0:12:02.480 to the south of Eubers. Far off in the distance, 0:12:02.880 --> 0:12:05.880 the northern tip of the Sierra Nevada Mountains could be seen, 0:12:06.640 --> 0:12:10.920 its pine covered ranges still capped with snow. Down in 0:12:10.920 --> 0:12:14.440 the valley, however, it was barely jacket weather, as a 0:12:14.440 --> 0:12:18.160 pale sun was slowly beginning its final descent toward the horizon. 0:12:19.520 --> 0:12:23.040 Waiting for Gary outside in the montago was thirty year 0:12:23.080 --> 0:12:27.679 old driver and owner of the vehicle, Jack Madruga, accompanied 0:12:27.720 --> 0:12:30.880 by thirty two year old Ted Weir and the twenty 0:12:30.920 --> 0:12:35.240 four year old Jack Hewitt. The others shouted for Gary 0:12:35.280 --> 0:12:37.680 to hurry up as he raced to the car and 0:12:37.760 --> 0:12:42.120 jumped into the front seat. Moments later, they pulled away 0:12:42.520 --> 0:12:46.960 as Ida waved them off from her front door. A 0:12:46.960 --> 0:12:50.120 few minutes later, they were parking up outside a small 0:12:50.160 --> 0:12:53.560 house on Talleda Street in Yuba City to collect the 0:12:53.600 --> 0:12:56.720 fifth and final member of the group, twenty nine year 0:12:56.760 --> 0:13:01.679 old Bill Sterling. With Bill finally settled in the back seat, 0:13:02.640 --> 0:13:13.800 they were on their way once more. The five men 0:13:14.040 --> 0:13:17.160 were friends from around the Yuba County area who had 0:13:17.200 --> 0:13:21.079 met at the Gateways Project, a local organization that helped 0:13:21.080 --> 0:13:27.199 adults with intellectual disabilities to better navigate their lives. Driver 0:13:27.440 --> 0:13:31.239 Jack Madruga was perhaps the least affected by his disability. 0:13:32.240 --> 0:13:35.760 Although he had never been diagnosed with anything specific, his 0:13:35.880 --> 0:13:40.440 thought processes were considered to be slower than average. An 0:13:40.559 --> 0:13:44.360 Army veteran, Jack had served two years in Vietnam as 0:13:44.400 --> 0:13:47.720 a truck driver and had recently started a job as 0:13:47.760 --> 0:13:52.440 a dishwasher at a local dried fruit company. Ted and 0:13:52.520 --> 0:13:56.040 Bill were perhaps the closest in the group, having known 0:13:56.040 --> 0:14:01.000 each other for almost eight years. Had been doing especially 0:14:01.040 --> 0:14:05.720 well recently, gaining employment through the Gateway Project repairing cables 0:14:05.760 --> 0:14:09.840 for a local gas and electricity company. Just like the others, 0:14:10.360 --> 0:14:13.760 Ted was not thought capable of fending for himself, so 0:14:13.920 --> 0:14:18.600 lived at home with his parents. In his case, this 0:14:18.840 --> 0:14:21.360 was due to what some considered to be a basic 0:14:21.480 --> 0:14:26.440 lack of common sense. One time, when Ted's parents' house 0:14:26.480 --> 0:14:30.000 caught fire, Ted had been more concerned about getting a 0:14:30.000 --> 0:14:33.320 good night's sleep than the flames that had begun raging 0:14:33.480 --> 0:14:37.400 above his bed. His brother had to forcibly pull him 0:14:37.400 --> 0:14:41.560 out of the house to save him. When Ted tried 0:14:41.600 --> 0:14:45.160 to make friends with strangers, he could never understand why 0:14:45.160 --> 0:14:48.680 they seemed so intimidated by him, or why they wouldn't 0:14:48.720 --> 0:14:53.960 simply wave back when he waved at them. Bill Sterling 0:14:54.200 --> 0:14:57.080 had also done well to gain employment working as a 0:14:57.120 --> 0:15:02.680 dishwasher at the nearby Beal Air Force. Bill enjoyed the position, 0:15:03.320 --> 0:15:07.480 especially the sense of independence it had given him. However, 0:15:07.920 --> 0:15:10.280 he was instructed by his parents to quit the job 0:15:10.480 --> 0:15:13.840 not long after taking it, after they discovered that some 0:15:13.880 --> 0:15:15.960 of the air men there had been plying him with 0:15:16.040 --> 0:15:20.960 alcohol and stealing his wages. Bill had spent much of 0:15:20.960 --> 0:15:25.840 his youth in Napa State Psychiatric Hospital, being generally misdiagnosed 0:15:26.280 --> 0:15:31.760 and misunderstood. Of all of them, twenty four year old Jack, 0:15:32.120 --> 0:15:36.240 who could not read, write, or use a telephone, was 0:15:36.320 --> 0:15:40.000 generally thought to be the most severely affected by his disabilities. 0:15:41.280 --> 0:15:44.920 Having met Ted back when he was sixteen, Jack, who 0:15:45.000 --> 0:15:48.360 was also deeply shy, had come to rely heavily on him, 0:15:48.880 --> 0:15:51.880 and the pair had become firm friends as a result. 0:15:53.480 --> 0:16:06.640 And then there was Garry. Unlike the other four who 0:16:06.680 --> 0:16:09.680 often went everywhere together and had known each other for 0:16:09.720 --> 0:16:13.480 an extended period of time, twenty five year old Gary 0:16:13.520 --> 0:16:17.920 Matthias was a fairly new addition to the group. Gary 0:16:18.000 --> 0:16:21.360 was also an Army veteran stationed for a few years 0:16:21.360 --> 0:16:26.200 in Germany. After suffering a psychiatric episode brought on by 0:16:26.280 --> 0:16:31.560 hallucinogenic drug use, Gary was discharged and sent home. For 0:16:31.600 --> 0:16:35.000 the past two years, however, Gary had been well and 0:16:35.080 --> 0:16:39.040 successfully holding down a job at his stepfather, Robert Clock's 0:16:39.080 --> 0:16:44.200 gardening business. Gary had been introduced to the Gateway Project 0:16:44.640 --> 0:16:47.680 as a way of finding new friends, and had bonded 0:16:47.680 --> 0:16:52.280 with the others over their mutual love of basketball. All 0:16:52.320 --> 0:16:56.760 of them played for the Gateway Gaiters, the project's basketball team, 0:16:56.880 --> 0:16:59.160 and were looking forward to a big tournament they were 0:16:59.240 --> 0:17:02.240 due to play in the following morning, which promised an 0:17:02.280 --> 0:17:05.679 all expenses paid trip to Los Angeles for the winning 0:17:05.720 --> 0:17:11.400 team that night. However, their excitement was for a different game. 0:17:12.800 --> 0:17:16.200 The friends were heading up to Chico, an hour's drive 0:17:16.280 --> 0:17:21.120 to the north, to watch their favorite team, University California Davis, 0:17:21.720 --> 0:17:27.080 take on Chico State. Despite their disabilities, such a trip 0:17:27.200 --> 0:17:31.000 wasn't unusual, since the boys regularly traveled together to watch 0:17:31.000 --> 0:17:34.040 them play at their home stadium in Davis or anywhere 0:17:34.080 --> 0:17:37.879 else that wasn't too far to drive before returning straight home. 0:17:39.480 --> 0:17:51.359 That night shouldn't have been any different. After picking up Bill, 0:17:52.040 --> 0:17:54.800 the men made a quick stop at Mico's service station 0:17:55.320 --> 0:17:59.320 on Caloosa Avenue. The others stayed in the car as 0:17:59.400 --> 0:18:02.600 Bill ran inside to pick up his fifteen dollar allowance 0:18:02.960 --> 0:18:07.480 from his parents, who ran the place. Bill's mother, Juanita, 0:18:08.200 --> 0:18:10.560 who was concerned about the men making the trip the 0:18:10.680 --> 0:18:14.000 night before their tournament, tried again to dissuade her son 0:18:14.080 --> 0:18:18.840 from going. As Bill explained, however, tonight was the last 0:18:18.960 --> 0:18:21.800 chance they'd get to watch their team this season, and 0:18:21.880 --> 0:18:24.000 there was no way they were going to pass that up. 0:18:25.600 --> 0:18:29.159 Realizing it was a lost cause, Juanita warned Bill not 0:18:29.240 --> 0:18:32.640 to be back too late before sending him on his way. 0:18:35.119 --> 0:18:38.719 Later that night, the men watched with delight as UC 0:18:38.960 --> 0:18:42.399 Davis picked up their seventeenth win of the season, beating 0:18:42.480 --> 0:18:47.800 Chico ninety eight to eighty six. Shortly after ten pm, 0:18:48.080 --> 0:18:52.320 the men left the Chico University Stadium and piled back 0:18:52.359 --> 0:18:57.400 into Jack's Montago. Soon after leaving the parking lot, one 0:18:57.440 --> 0:19:00.159 of the men suggested they make a quick stop to 0:19:00.200 --> 0:19:04.920 get some supplies for the return journey. Pulling up outside 0:19:04.960 --> 0:19:08.520 a convenience store moments later, they were disappointed to find 0:19:08.560 --> 0:19:12.399 the shop clerk closing the place up. After taking pity 0:19:12.400 --> 0:19:15.440 on them, however, she agreed to stay open just long 0:19:15.520 --> 0:19:19.399 enough for them to get what they needed. A short 0:19:19.400 --> 0:19:23.200 time later, the men were back in the car, loaded 0:19:23.240 --> 0:19:26.520 with some fruit pies and chocolate bath as Jack slowly 0:19:26.560 --> 0:19:30.400 eased onto the road before heading off into the night. 0:19:38.359 --> 0:19:42.560 Juanita Sterling hadn't taken her eyes off the clock since midnight. 0:19:44.000 --> 0:19:47.320 All things going to plan, her son should have been 0:19:47.359 --> 0:19:51.639 home by then by two a m. She couldn't hold 0:19:51.680 --> 0:19:55.760 out any longer. It wasn't the first time that Bill 0:19:55.840 --> 0:19:59.720 hadn't come home on time, or had even gone missing completely. 0:20:00.720 --> 0:20:03.119 Often he would go and stay with friends and just 0:20:03.160 --> 0:20:07.600 simply forget to call home. Each previous occasion, he had 0:20:07.640 --> 0:20:12.280 never been more than a quick phone call away. Trying 0:20:12.280 --> 0:20:15.760 not to panic, Juanita picked up the phone and dialed 0:20:15.800 --> 0:20:19.200 for Melbourgh, Jack Madrugu's mother with whom he lived in 0:20:19.280 --> 0:20:23.920 nearby Linda, but Jack was also yet to come home. 0:20:26.240 --> 0:20:29.440 It was a few hours later that Ted's mother, Imogun Weir, 0:20:30.000 --> 0:20:33.120 who had slept through the earlier phone calls, woke up 0:20:33.160 --> 0:20:36.760 to find her son's bed empty, having not been slept 0:20:36.760 --> 0:20:42.040 in the night before. Calling Juanita immediately, she was shocked 0:20:42.080 --> 0:20:45.439 to find that both Bill and Jack were also still missing. 0:20:47.280 --> 0:20:51.680 Calling Jack Hewitt's mother soon after, Imogun got the same response. 0:20:53.480 --> 0:20:56.240 Their last hope was that the boys had all gone 0:20:56.480 --> 0:21:01.520 to Garry Matthias's family home. Since the Weirs lived just 0:21:01.600 --> 0:21:05.320 down the street from them, Imagon's daughter in law volunteered 0:21:05.359 --> 0:21:08.720 to go and check if they were there. The look 0:21:08.760 --> 0:21:12.119 on her face when she returned was all Imogen needed 0:21:12.160 --> 0:21:16.440 to know. The men were due to meet the rest 0:21:16.440 --> 0:21:20.159 of their Gateway Gaiters team later that morning outside a 0:21:20.240 --> 0:21:24.040 store in Marysville. Knowing the five wouldn't have missed their 0:21:24.080 --> 0:21:27.040 tournament for the world, a few of the family members 0:21:27.119 --> 0:21:29.879 traveled to the store in hope that their sons and 0:21:29.920 --> 0:21:34.560 brothers might yet be there, but the men never appeared. 0:21:36.040 --> 0:21:39.040 By eight p m. Having still heard nothing from them, 0:21:39.640 --> 0:21:44.120 Melbourne Madruga informed the Uber County Sheriff's office that her 0:21:44.200 --> 0:21:55.960 son and his four best friends were missing. That weekend, 0:21:56.240 --> 0:21:59.200 the various families spent the days in a complete haze, 0:21:59.560 --> 0:22:02.240 anxiously looking out for any mention of a car crash 0:22:02.600 --> 0:22:07.720 or sighting of the missing men, but nothing came. On Monday, 0:22:08.160 --> 0:22:11.399 having heard nothing from the police, Juanita took it on 0:22:11.440 --> 0:22:15.000 herself to drive to Chico, where she handed out pictures 0:22:15.040 --> 0:22:17.720 of the five friends to the various ticket sellers and 0:22:17.760 --> 0:22:24.000 security officers at the University basketball stadium. None, however, recognized 0:22:24.040 --> 0:22:26.359 the faces that had been sat in the venue for 0:22:26.440 --> 0:22:31.879 over two hours only a few nights before. In the meantime, 0:22:32.280 --> 0:22:34.960 the Sheriff's office had released a statement to the local 0:22:35.000 --> 0:22:38.760 press giving a detailed description of the missing men and 0:22:38.840 --> 0:22:42.280 the vehicle they were traveling, in, urging anyone to come 0:22:42.320 --> 0:22:46.040 forward who might have important information as to their whereabouts. 0:22:47.800 --> 0:22:50.800 Having been given a brief description of the personalities he 0:22:50.880 --> 0:22:54.879 was looking for and taking into account their intellectual disabilities, 0:22:55.720 --> 0:22:59.480 Yuba County under Sheriff Jack Beecham was stumped as to 0:22:59.520 --> 0:23:03.679 what might have happened to them. Certainly, no crashes with 0:23:03.720 --> 0:23:06.840 that type of vehicle had been reported, and judging by 0:23:06.840 --> 0:23:09.760 how the parents described it, there was no reason to 0:23:09.800 --> 0:23:12.960 suggest that the men had struck out on an impromptu 0:23:13.040 --> 0:23:18.880 road trip. The following day, Beecham received an unexpected call 0:23:19.160 --> 0:23:24.760 from Plumus National Forest ranger Willard Burris. Buris had been 0:23:24.760 --> 0:23:27.640 making his way along a forest road when he came 0:23:27.680 --> 0:23:32.159 across an abandoned car. He hadn't thought anything about it 0:23:32.240 --> 0:23:35.160 at the time, but having seen a news report about 0:23:35.200 --> 0:23:38.560 the missing men later that day, he thought to call 0:23:38.600 --> 0:23:45.199 it in. Beecham was confused, however, Plumus Forest covered the 0:23:45.240 --> 0:23:48.880 northern tip of the Sierra Nevada Mountains and was located 0:23:48.920 --> 0:23:52.960 about seventy miles east of Chico, in the complete opposite 0:23:52.960 --> 0:23:58.480 direction to where the men were supposed to have been heading. Moreover, 0:23:59.240 --> 0:24:01.359 the point at which Burris claimed to have seen the 0:24:01.440 --> 0:24:06.760 car was four thousand feet high into them, but Burris 0:24:06.840 --> 0:24:10.840 was adamant the vehicle he had seen was a turquoise 0:24:11.359 --> 0:24:18.840 mercury Montego. The following day, Wednesday, March first, under Sheriff, 0:24:18.880 --> 0:24:22.000 Beecham with a handful of Deputies made his way to 0:24:22.080 --> 0:24:26.920 the spot detailed by forest ranger Burris. An hour later, 0:24:27.480 --> 0:24:30.359 the officers found themselves leaving the mild flats of the 0:24:30.400 --> 0:24:34.040 Euber Shutter area and heading up into the Sierra Nevada 0:24:34.119 --> 0:24:39.280 Mountains toward the snow covered pines of Plumus National Forest. 0:24:40.600 --> 0:24:44.560 With the temperature steadily dropping the higher they climbed, they 0:24:44.560 --> 0:24:47.560 were soon approaching the snow line at an altitude of 0:24:47.680 --> 0:24:53.400 roughly four thousand feet. The road was known locally as 0:24:53.400 --> 0:24:57.080 the Oraville to Quincy Road, running from the foothill town 0:24:57.119 --> 0:25:00.520 of Oroville at the western edge of the mountains, snaking 0:25:00.560 --> 0:25:03.520 east via the town of Quincy all the way through 0:25:03.600 --> 0:25:07.399 to the other side. During the summer months, the roads 0:25:07.440 --> 0:25:10.639 would be jammed with day trippers and holiday makers heading 0:25:10.640 --> 0:25:12.760 out to one of the many cabins that dotted the 0:25:12.800 --> 0:25:16.919 surrounding area, with Bucks Lake, located in the middle of 0:25:16.920 --> 0:25:20.760 the forest about fifty miles from Oraville, being the biggest draw. 0:25:22.720 --> 0:25:25.720 During the winter months, however, by the time you had 0:25:25.720 --> 0:25:29.440 reached the snow line, the road would quickly become impassable 0:25:29.640 --> 0:25:33.399 to all but the most hardy of vehicles. It was 0:25:33.440 --> 0:25:37.040 at this point with the unpaved forest road becoming ever 0:25:37.160 --> 0:25:41.159 narrower and more rugged. That Beecham spotted the car that 0:25:41.280 --> 0:25:45.800 Willard Burris had come across. Although by now it was 0:25:45.840 --> 0:25:49.640 carrying a light dusting of snow, Beecham could see clearly 0:25:50.000 --> 0:25:55.800 that it was indeed a turquoise nineteen sixty nine Mercury Montego. 0:26:04.440 --> 0:26:08.320 Beecham wrapped his jacket a little tighter about himself as 0:26:08.359 --> 0:26:10.959 he made his way through the slush towards the vehicle. 0:26:12.440 --> 0:26:16.959 Brushing away the snow from the window, he looked inside. 0:26:17.960 --> 0:26:20.600 Empty food wrappers were strewn about on the back seat, 0:26:21.200 --> 0:26:24.680 along with a couple of basketball programs, but the vehicle 0:26:25.000 --> 0:26:30.040 was otherwise empty. Trying the door, he was surprised to 0:26:30.040 --> 0:26:34.919 find it unlocked, but the keys were gone. Pulling a 0:26:34.960 --> 0:26:38.280 panel from under the steering wheel, Beecham fiddled with the 0:26:38.280 --> 0:26:43.280 wires until the car's engine roared into life. The under 0:26:43.280 --> 0:26:46.560 sheriff watched as the needle on the dashboard moved up 0:26:46.600 --> 0:26:49.600 to reveal at least a quarter tank of gas left 0:26:49.600 --> 0:26:54.560 in it. Stepping out of the car, Beecham took in 0:26:54.600 --> 0:26:57.679 the scene around him, staring off into the trees that 0:26:57.840 --> 0:27:01.440 backed away from the road. The ground covered in fresh 0:27:01.440 --> 0:27:06.800 snow from the night before, All was completely silent, and 0:27:06.840 --> 0:27:10.040 there was no sign of track marks anywhere leading down 0:27:10.520 --> 0:27:15.280 or off the road. Looking at the front wheels, he 0:27:15.320 --> 0:27:17.600 could see that they were a little stuck in the snow, 0:27:18.080 --> 0:27:20.840 but it was nothing that a quick push couldn't have dislodged. 0:27:22.640 --> 0:27:26.960 None of it seemed to make sense. Why on earth 0:27:27.000 --> 0:27:29.560 would the five friends have driven up into the mountains 0:27:30.119 --> 0:27:33.240 and then abandoned the car like this with absolutely no 0:27:33.359 --> 0:27:37.520 reason to unless, of course, it hadn't been them at 0:27:37.560 --> 0:27:40.159 all that had brought it there in the first place. 0:27:41.160 --> 0:27:44.560 Could it be? Beecham thought that it had been stolen 0:27:44.880 --> 0:27:48.760 and merely dumped there Where that might put the five 0:27:48.840 --> 0:27:54.720 missing men would be anyone's guess at this point. After 0:27:54.760 --> 0:27:57.960 calling it in, Beecham was promptly appointed to lead the 0:27:58.000 --> 0:28:04.080 search for the missing men. Forty personnel from Euba, Plumus 0:28:04.119 --> 0:28:08.560 and Butte County, along with snowmobiles and a highway patrol helicopter, 0:28:08.960 --> 0:28:12.600 were drafted in. For the rest of the day, they 0:28:12.640 --> 0:28:15.600 searched every inch of the surrounding forest within a five 0:28:15.640 --> 0:28:19.000 mile radius of the abandoned car for any sign of 0:28:19.040 --> 0:28:24.040 the two Jacks Hewitt and Madruga, Bill Stirling, ted Weir, 0:28:24.680 --> 0:28:29.040 and Gary Matthias, but no clue to their possible whereabouts 0:28:29.560 --> 0:28:34.840 was found. Beecham knew only too well that if the 0:28:34.920 --> 0:28:38.280 five men had driven into the mountains after all, only 0:28:38.320 --> 0:28:42.840 to abandon their vehicle, their survival would depend on finding 0:28:42.880 --> 0:28:48.040 shelter very quickly. Failure to do so, stumbling blindly in 0:28:48.080 --> 0:28:51.600 the dark in sub zero temperatures, dressed as they were 0:28:51.720 --> 0:28:57.680 for a mild evening, would most likely be fatal. Whats More, 0:28:58.440 --> 0:29:01.360 it had now been almost a week since they had disappeared, 0:29:02.240 --> 0:29:05.320 and no one in the immediate area had seen them, 0:29:06.440 --> 0:29:09.360 nor were they found in any of the nearby cabins 0:29:09.520 --> 0:29:12.000 that they might have sought as a place of refuge. 0:29:13.040 --> 0:29:17.280 Later that day, under Sheriff, Beecham had the unenviable task 0:29:17.640 --> 0:29:20.800 of informing the families of just what they had discovered. 0:29:22.080 --> 0:29:24.840 It was hard to gauge which scenario offered them the 0:29:24.880 --> 0:29:28.800 most hope, Whether the vehicle had been stolen and the 0:29:28.880 --> 0:29:34.760 men possibly assaulted and left stranded elsewhere, or whether they themselves, 0:29:34.920 --> 0:29:38.600